Yahoo asked to reveal user names, again

Restaurant chain Shoney's wants Yahoo to reveal the names of people who posted confidential information about it on the message boards, using the names of some of the firm's executives, including its president and chairman, the Associated Press reported.

The messages posted on Yahoo discussed plans for the company to possibly file for bankruptcy as well as the closure of some poorly performing restaurants, the AP said.

Yahoo's message boards have caused their share of legal wrangling of late. Last month Yahoo was asked to turn over information about users of its message boards when aerospace and defense company Raytheon sued 21 of them for allegedly releasing company information on the boards. Two of the people accused in the suit resigned last week.

And in September, Yahoo updated the policy surrounding its message boards by making a better effort to confirm users' email addresses. The company made the change after online trade center ITEX sued 100 "John Does" who criticized it on Yahoo Finance's boards.

The restaurant's attorneys are requesting that a judge subpoena Yahoo to force the company to turn over the names of the users who posted the messages. A spokeswoman for Shoney's told the AP that although some of the information in the postings is true, the company does not plan to file for bankruptcy.

People who post to Yahoo's message boards are warned in advance that the company will turn over names, email addresses, and other identifying information when served with a subpoena, Diane Hunt, a Yahoo spokeswoman, told CNET News.com in an earlier interview. "It's not a good assumption to think that you could never be identified" when posting to a board, she said.